Boyes carries Blues past Predators in SO

Brad Boyes scored the only goal in the shootout, and the St. Louis Blues won their third straight by beating the Nashville Predators 3-2 Saturday night.

St. Louis, which defeated Columbus 3-2 on Friday night, had been the only NHL team not to reach overtime this season.

Hannu Toivonen stopped 35 shots as Nashville outshot the Blues 37-20, then he smothered shots from J.P. Dumont, Martin Erat and Alexander Radulov in the shootout to win it.

Radulov and Jordin Tootoo each scored a goal for Nashville, 6-0-1 in its previous seven games.

Chris Mason stopped Blues rookie David Perron and ex-teammate Paul Kariya, playing in his first game back in Nashville since leaving as a free agent. But Boyes, who also had a goal in regulation, clinched the win by faking Mason to the goalie's right, then flipping the puck behind Mason's right skate.

Perron also had a goal for the Blues, who have won their first two against Nashville this season. The Blues will host the Predators on Monday night.

The Predators welcomed Kariya with a video montage midway through the first period, which Kariya watched while perched on the boards in front of the Blues bench. Fans gave Kariya a round of applause.

Kariya's ex-teammates didn't give him much room to operate.

This also marked the return of Nashville defenseman Shea Weber, who dislocated his kneecap in the season opener on Oct. 4. Weber quickly made his presence known, shooting from the right circle to set up the first goal.

Weber took a shot from the right circle, and Radulov flipped the rebound into the open net to Toivonen's right at 15:54 of the first for a 1-0 lead.

Nashville kept the puck in front of Toivonen most of the second period, outshooting the Blues 16-6. But Boyes tied it at 12:43 with a wrister off the rebound of his own miss during 4-on-4 play. Perron put St. Louis up 2-1 at 17:43 with a backhander over Mason's right leg as the goalie sprawled on the ice.

Tootoo tied the game 57 seconds later, tipping in a shot from Martin Gelinas.

Toivonen stopped a shot in front by Radulov during a power play midway through the third to keep the game tied. He stopped a shot from Jason Arnott within the final 20 seconds to force overtime, then made a pad save on Marek Zidlicky's shot and gloved another from Radek Bonk.

Notes:@ David Legwand tied Kimmo Timonen as the Predators' career leading scorer with his 301st point by assisting on Radulov's goal. ... Nashville is 2-for-25 with the man advantage over the past five games and has gone to overtime in four of five. ... The Blues improved to 7-2 when allowing two goals or fewer.